


Mutual Disrespect

by MimiWritesHerFandoms



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Explosions, F/M, Sexual Tension, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-08
Updated: 2019-04-08
Packaged: 2020-01-06 09:57:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18386126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MimiWritesHerFandoms/pseuds/MimiWritesHerFandoms
Summary: Everyone knows about soulmates. What they don’t talk about are soul enemies. But, that might perfectly describe you and Tony Stark.





	Mutual Disrespect

 

Tony Stark; billionaire, playboy, and philanthropist. People either loved him or hated him, there was no grey area, no middle ground, no inbetween. Not until he almost died at the hands of terrorists after being taken hostage and used for leverage. Then the nation rallied together, lifted Tony up in their prayers, changing the tune they had been singing the day before. He was the prodigal son miraculously returned home. 

After he fashioned a suit of armor and destroyed the camp in his escape, all eyes were on him, judging his every move and decision, whether it was announcing Stark Industries would no longer create weapons, or something as simple as which party he did, or didn’t, go to. 

But the dumbest thing he ever did was announce that he was Iron Man, an honest to God superhero that flew around the city, saving the lives of its inhabitants. God, could he be anymore egotistical?

“No,” you argued, glaring at Director Fury. “I won’t do it.” 

Nick stared at you, an amused smile tugging at his lips. “It wasn’t a suggestion.”

“You’re telling me to babysit a grown ass man that flies around in a suit of armor,” you said dryly. 

“Well, when you put it that way,” he chuckled. 

With your eyes narrowed, you set your hands on his desk and leaned forward. “So, I  _ don’t _ have to watch him.”

Nick stood tall, adjusting the jacket he was wearing. “Oh, no, that’s still happening.”

“God damn it,” you ground out, shoving away from the desk. “Why me? I can’t stand the man.”

“You’re just so good at your job.”

“My job is to make sure that you stay alive, to protect my country from all threats,” you explained to him as if he had no idea why you had been hired in the first place. “That does not include making sure Tony doesn’t blow off his head should he miscalculate the propulsion diagnostic.”

Nick rounded the desk and grabbed a set of keys from a dish. “You’re more than smart enough to deal with Stark. So, yes, we need you to make sure he doesn’t blow off his own head, though I doubt that’s going to happen. What is a possibility is someone trying to kill him, which we can’t have happen. We have plans for him, and those plans include him being alive. We need you to protect him.”

“Get Nat to do it,” you suggested impatiently.

“Can’t, her and Barton are on a mission in Budapest. There’s no one else,” he explained.

You glared up at him. “No one else? How is there no one else? There are thousands of agents  _ not _ in the field right now. Don’t tell me there’s no one else that could do this.”

Nick’s hand was on your shoulder. “There’s no one else I trust to do this, Y/N.”

“Well, shit.”

You waited until you reached your car, slammed the door, gripped the steering wheel, and screamed at the top of your lungs. Several people walking through the parking garage glanced your way, their steps quickening as they hurried away from the crazy lady in the car.

Everybody knew about soulmates, what they didn’t talk about were soul  _ enemies _ . That was you and Stark. While soulmates were usually close friends or even romantic partners, you and Tony were more like bitter enemies, harboring a mutual disrespect for each other, and there wasn’t a snowball’s chance in Hell you would ever be romantically involved with the arrogant billionaire.

* * *

You were in the elevator headed to the penthouse when your phone rang. A quick glance told you it was Fury, probably calling to remind you to behave yourself and not kill Stark. There was no need; you’d been reminding yourself of that the entire drive over. After all, it was your job to keep Stark alive, not kill him yourself. You hit the dismiss button.

The elevator doors opened to a tastefully decorated living room with a huge sectional couch, low glass coffee tables, and several comfortable chairs. Tony was standing in front of a huge window overlooking the city, barely glancing your way when you came in.

“Mr. Stark,” you said quietly, setting your backpack on one of the chairs.

“Agent,” he mumbled, not even bothering to look at you.

“Fury told you I was coming?” you asked.

Stark gave an imperceptible nod, his eyes locked on something outside the window.

“You going to give me the cold shoulder the entire time I’m here?” you sighed.

“Why do we need to talk?” Stark shrugged. “Aren’t you here to make sure I don’t die or something like that? I don’t believe that requires conversation.”

“Tony -”

“I’ll be in the lab on the upper level,” he spat, spinning on his heel and marching off, staring steadfastly ahead, as if making eye contact with you would somehow affect his ability to despise you.

You shook your head and watched him walk away. Things were off to a phenomenal start.

“Can I get you anything, Ms. Y/L/N?” J.A.R.V.I.S.’s disembodied voice asked.

“I could use a place to work,” you replied.

“Of course,” Stark’s A.I. said. A computer at a desk in the corner lit up. “Will this suffice?”

“It’s perfect, J.A.R.V.I.S., thank you.”

You tried to keep yourself busy, returning some phone calls, answering emails, and filing a few reports. Unfortunately, that didn’t take a lot of time, not enough to keep you occupied for very long. You found yourself on the terrace that stretched around the building. It really was gorgeous at the top of Tony’s tower. You sat on the bottom step and stared at the clouds bumping against the Tower’s precipices. If only you could hide out here away from Stark forever, life would be perfect.

Speaking of Stark, it had been awhile since you’d seen the eccentric billionaire, maybe it was time to check on him. Reluctantly, you pushed yourself to your feet and hurried back through the penthouse and up the stairs to the second story. 

Thanks to Tony’s bizarre need to surround himself with glass, you saw him as soon as you hit the top of the stairs. He was pulling on a t-shirt, the top button of his jeans undone, his hair slightly ruffled, like he’d just climbed out of bed. You froze in your tracks, unable to tear your eyes away. it looked like he’d just climbed out of one of his suits; there was one lying on the table behind him, one of his robots hovering over it. Who knew Tony Stark looked like  _ that _ , all toned muscles and tight abs. A flash of heat rushed through you.

“What the hell was that?” you mumbled to yourself. You shook yourself free of whatever weird feeling had just overcome you and punched in the code to unlock the door, a code that Fury had given you. Tony stared at you, a scowl marring his handsome face.

“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t just barge into my lab,” he snarled.

“I came to see what you were up to,” you sighed. “Doing my job.”

“Your job is to protect me, not spy on me,” Tony retorted.

“Spy on you?” you scoffed. “I’m pretty sure I don’t need to spy on you. Anything we want, Fury will just take.”

Tony rolled his eyes. “So he thinks.” He lowered himself gingerly to the stool at the table, grimacing noticeably.

You stepped closer. “You okay?” Not that you cared how Tony Stark was, but it was your job to ask.

“Yeah,” he mumbled. He rubbed the spot where his shoulder and neck met, rotating the shoulder several times. “I tweaked my shoulder a couple of days ago. It’s bugging me.”

“Why are you climbing into the suit if you’re injured?”

“I’m not injured,” he snapped. “Besides, it needs to be tested, I have no choice.”

“There’s always a choice,” you replied.

He scrubbed a hand over his face and shrugged one shoulder. “I disagree, but that’s par for the course when it comes to you and I.”

“You’re not wrong.” You took a step closer, attempting to smile at the man who drove you out of your mind. It came off as more of a grimace. “Look, I’ll get out of your hair. I just wanted to check on you.” You left him to tinker with his newest suit.

Halfway down the stairs, an explosion rocked the building, knocking you on your ass. You scrambled to your feet, glass cutting the palms of your hands as you used them to get yourself upright. You sprinted down the hall, screaming Tony’s name.

Tony’s lab was obliterated; the bank of computers against one wall was on fire, two of his robots blown to pieces, the glass wall on the north side completely gone. Tony was nowhere to be seen.

“Stark!” you screamed, stepping over the broken glass door, gun drawn. “Tony!”

A loud whooshing sound filled your ears, then Stark was hovering in front of you in his suit. “Nice job protecting me, sweetheart,” he said.

“Screw you, Tony,” you muttered. “What the hell happened?”

“Long range, missile, ma’am,” J.A.R.V.I.S. interjected.

“Fired from where?”

“Unknown at this time,” was his reply. “I’m analyzing the trajectory now.”

“No time J.A.R.V.I.S.” Tony shot across the room, his arms sliding around your waist, then you were airborne, flying across the room and through the window just as another missile took out the west side of the building.

Thirty seconds later, Tony was reversing his thrusters and the two of you were landing in an alley behind the tower. You wrenched yourself free, stumbling a few steps away, your hand on the wall, trying to steady yourself, get back your equilibrium. You hated flying, not that what Tony did was flying, it was more like acrobatics in the air.

“What the hell, Y/N?” The faceplate on his helmet popped open. “You show up and suddenly my building is being blown to smithereens?”

“I was there to prevent that from happening,” you shouted.

“Yeah? Well, you did a shitty job! Stay here.”

And then he was gone, taking off in that damn suit of his. You yanked your phone out of your pocket and dialed Fury’s number. Might as well get the ass chewing out of the way first thing.

“Where’s Stark?” Fury shouted into the phone.

“I’m fine, thanks for asking,” you snapped. “I don’t know where the hell he is. Took off in his super suit after dumping me in an alley. What the hell happened?”

“We’re not sure,” Fury said. “Whoever it is, they want Tony dead.”

“Feelings mutual,” you muttered.

“Y/N -”

“I know, Director, I’m sorry,” you said. “What do you want me to do?”

“Rhodes has eyes on Stark. I’m sending a car to pick you up. Be at the corner of 5th and Grand ASAP.”

“Yes, sir.” You disconnected the call, shoved the phone in your pocket, and hurried to meet the car.

* * *

“Do we know anything yet?” you asked as you stepped into Fury’s office, the door swinging shut behind you.

“No,” Fury snapped. “Only that Tony’s lab is destroyed and he’s pissed, blaming us.”

“It’s not our fault -”

“I know that and you know that, but Tony thinks our presence at the Tower drew whoever tried to kill him there. He wants S.H.I.E.L.D. gone, out, far, far away from him. Said he can take care of himself, doesn’t want our help anymore. He could be right, who knows?”

“Do you want me to apologize to him?” you sighed. “Not that anything I say will matter, but I can try.”

“He’s in conference room B,” Fury waved vaguely toward the door. “You talk some sense into him.”

You did as Fury suggested, stopping just outside the door of conference B to drag in a deep breath and attempt to steel your nerves. You braced yourself to be lectured at, in typical Tony Stark fashion, something that would make you feel like an idiot who didn’t know her ass from a hole in the ground. Tony loved to throw his multiple degrees around, making anyone who didn’t have those oh-so-precious degrees like he did feel like garbage. You closed your eyes, squared your shoulders, and shoved open the door.

“If you’re here to apologize, I don’t want to hear it,” Tony muttered before the door had even closed behind you.

You sighed heavily. “Tony, be reasonable -”

“S.H.I.E.L.D. following me around puts a target on my back,” Tony interrupted. “It puts the people I care about in danger.” He looked pointedly at you.

“I’m sorry,” you murmured.

“I’m not angry with you,” he snapped. He closed his eyes and blew out a shaky breath. “Sorry.” He crossed the room to stand in front of you. “I’m not angry with you. I’m angry with Fury and I’m angry with S.H.I.E.L.D.”

“I’m part of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” you said, tapping the center of your chest.

“But you’re not the part I’m pissed at,” he shrugged.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Maybe it means you’re one of the people I don’t want in danger.” Tony quirked one eyebrow, his head tipped to the side, again looking pointedly at you, like he was trying to tell you something.

“Tony, I don’t under -”

He cut you off, his lips pressed to yours, his hand settling on your waist and squeezing. The kiss was sweet, gentle, and not at all what you would have expected from the egocentric billionaire. When he finally broke off the kiss, he was smirking.

“Maybe it means you’re one of the people I care about. Tell Fury to stay away from me. But, you, I’d like to see later, eight tonight, my place, dinner.”

With that said, he yanked open the door and strode down the hallway without so much as a glance back. God, he drove you crazy.


End file.
